1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a backlight assembly, and more particularly, to a backlight assembly which can reduce manufacturing costs and enhance display quality of a liquid crystal display (“LCD”).
2. Description of the Related Art
A commercially available LCD includes a pair of display panels having electric field-generating electrodes, such as pixel electrodes and common electrodes, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the display panels. In an LCD, voltages are applied to electric field-generating electrodes to generate an electric field. Accordingly, the alignment of liquid crystal molecules of a liquid crystal layer is controlled by the electric field, thereby controlling the transmittance of polarized light. As a result, an image can be displayed on the LCD.
Since an LCD includes non-self-luminous elements, it requires a backlight assembly for providing light to a liquid crystal panel.
A commercially available backlight assembly includes a light source which emits light, a light guide plate (“LGP”) which guides the light from the light source toward a liquid crystal panel, one or more optical sheets which enhance the luminance and uniformity of the light output from the LGP to the liquid crystal panel, and a reflective sheet which is disposed under the LGP.
When a plurality of optical sheets, such as a diffusion sheet, a prism sheet or a protective sheet are used in a backlight assembly, the manufacturing cost can be increased, and the thickness of a product LCD increased as well. Therefore, what is needed is a backlight assembly having a reduced number of optical sheets that can enhance the display quality of an LCD.